Question about the 1966 L-72

[mssl72]

I've never seen or heard of a '66 L72 passenger car that had a 450hp decal from the factory. I've heard of Corvettes coming that way and I have seen one. I always had heard what's been mentioned already in regards to the insurance issue. Chevrolet always seemed to want to keep the Corvette at the top of the heap. My feeling is that both L72's, Corvette and passenger probably started out as 450 and 425 respectively, but the insurance issue forced Chevrolet to knock the Corvette down to 425. At that point I don't think they'd knock 25hp off the passenger cars to 400 to keep the Vette on top. I believe the 450 Vettes were fairly early. I've seen GM proving grounds picture dated 11-15-65 that shows a '66 L72 Vette engine compartment with a 425hp decal.